Until Dawn

The film made some changes that didn't significantly affect the overall experience.

The game had such a great story framework, and it had been tested by a large number of players. Yet, the filmmakers chose to completely innovate with a boring, slasher-style horror film that had no relation to the game. The director and writer probably just saw the name of the game and decided to make a film based on that, without truly understanding its essence.

There’s a video I’ve seen before that explains why Hollywood has always failed in game adaptations. One of the main reasons is that they look down on games and consider them artistically insignificant. After watching this, I now believe that to be true. However, when they tried to rely on their own "innovation," what did they even manage to do?

There’s also the repeated time loop concept, similar to Happy Death Day, but the funny part is that the first loop has a character kill everyone, and then in the second loop, things are completely different.

In the second loop, they added a possession element, with a random monster showing up, and eventually, the monster transformation concept is introduced.

In the third loop, it changed again, adding a water-drinking explosion concept. But this time, it finally somewhat related to the game, as they mentioned the mining disaster and the monster, Wendigo. However, this is completely different from the game's interpretation of the Wendigo. In the game, these creatures were once human but became monsters after eating their fellow humans and being possessed by an evil spirit.

As the film neared the end, they arrived at the 13th loop, the final one. They recalled how everyone died before, then decided to enter a previously discovered tunnel. They ended up at the sanatorium, where Clover kills her mutated sister, and the others deal with the monster. Later, they talk to the psychologist, and in the patient's files, we see important characters from the game (the only two things related to the game). They then kill the doctor. There’s a new twist: mentally ill patients like Clover are the driving force of this place. After giving the doctor water, Clover changes the doctor, and they escape. Once the countdown finishes, everyone is saved.

The gap between the movie and the game is as big as the one between Tsui Hark's The Eagle Shooting Heroes and the original novel. I really recommend playing the game. The game has a butterfly effect system where your choices affect the story. Plus, there are multiple plot twists throughout the narrative.

It’s much better than I expected. Although there are still a lot of bugs, it’s already far better than many of the horror films in recent years. The five main characters are well-developed, and we’ve said goodbye to the typical “team of losers” trope. It’s a much more comfortable viewing experience!

The atmosphere set up in the beginning is also quite good, with the feeling of a "rain wall," the dark atmosphere of the forest, and one kid being taken out with a single strike. The addition of the time loop element added a lot of bloody scenes.

The collapsed sanatorium background is also well done, but the time loop progression feels strange. It seems like some characters are attacked right away, while others are only attacked when it’s almost over.

### From the Game to the Big Screen: A Review of an Overambitious but Flawed Adaptation

#### **I. My Experience with the Original Game** I’ve only dabbled in the original game a bit, but I’ve watched countless playthroughs—on YouTube, Bilibili, and while friends played. Beyond its great plot and gameplay, the game’s true magic lies in its **multiple endings driven by player choices**, which let you grasp the story’s脉络 from different angles.

#### **II. The Logic Behind the Film Adaptation** As a theatrical movie (not a web film with interactive Easter eggs), the adaptation had to rethink how to translate the game’s essence. I actually think the approach was reasonable—and even innovative. By using **time loops** to mirror the game’s "butterfly effect" of choices, the film tried to make a linear medium feel "interactive" in its own way.

#### **III. Where the Film Falls Short** Sadly, the movie isn’t as good as it could be. Its biggest flaw? **Trying to do too much without editing down**. The result is a messy hotchpotch that crams in: - Parodies of horror movie tropes - Non-physical supernatural elements - Urban fantasy twists - Psychological symbolism - Mad scientist clichés - Gory slasher scenes

All tied together by time resets (a fair nod to the game’s multiple endings, at least). Why not pick 1–2 genres and focus?

#### **IV. The Confusing Finale** They even introduced the game’s **wendigo** (a physical monster) with proper setup—but then the ending shifts to scientists and surveillance cameras, veering back into vague "supernatural or psychological?" territory. It’s a total tonal mess.

#### **V. Saving Graces: Eye Candy and Guilty Pleasures** I’d give it an extra star for two reasons: 1. The cast is ridiculously good-looking, and everyone survives (a rarity!). 2. The "dumb" death scenes are actually entertaining. People complain about movies using pretty actors or the opposite, but let’s be real: in this genre, audiences love watching "hot people die"—no deep thinking required, just mindless fun. The casting is almost... *too* fitting for a B-movie "safety education" vibe.

Shoutout to Abe, the psych major sweetheart—glad he made it! 🎉

If movies can be made like this, who needs cars anymore? When will we see a storyline in a film where someone stabs a troublesome person for the sake of friendship?

Which movie can give you this many horror elements (except The Cabin in the Woods)? In the short review, they mentioned how exhausting it was to cover their eyes during the horror scenes… so why even watch a horror movie?

The horror scenes in my opinion are fresh and not cliché. That Asian character always dies the worst (she really looks like Zhang Yiqi, right?).

The whole movie feels like a crossover fanfiction written by someone who loves Silent Hill, The Cabin in the Woods, and Until Dawn at the same time. They throw out a mind-blowing setup, but it’s completely unable to live up to the hype and ends up face-planting. Every Chekhov’s gun introduced earlier doesn’t go off, and all the characters end up unchanged from the beginning to the end, with no real character development or relationships. Even though it’s fanfiction, it’s written with zero heart from start to finish.

If I had to say something positive, the movie itself isn’t really problematic, if you don’t count the huge missing part that leaves the story with only three steps—beginning, middle, and end—with no climax. After all the pretentious build-up and atmosphere, the ending just leaves you thinking ‘That’s it?’ I kept thinking there had to be something more before the end. The standard structure should include one more part. Maybe saving Megan was the wrong choice because she had already merged with the darkness. If not, then writing her without a reboot but just going through the door would be meaningless. The protagonist would probably have to sacrifice herself to save Megan; otherwise, the earlier plot point about sacrificing one person would also be pointless. But no, it just ended like that. The first half had the quality of a blockbuster, but the second half was less thrilling than a typical escape room video. I was laughing in disbelief—seriously, the only part that still felt like a movie was the homage scenes lifted directly from games.

I have to say, the idea of making it a series was good, but the premise is that every film needs to be complete. You can’t hide everything for the next film, leaving the first one underdeveloped, killing the pacing and the story. The movie didn’t even tell a full story—it became a weak, incoherent mess. Honestly, by the end, I didn’t even know what I was watching. If they had trimmed the game’s storyline, it would’ve been more complete. At least in the game, the main characters, the old hunter, Joshua, and the Wendigo forces all had their own plots, and the twists worked well. The movie… the movie needs to sort out the story first. The multiple plot points introduced had no resolution, and I don’t even know what the point was of the ‘different monster every night’ setup. The final night didn’t even have a Cabin in the Woods monster lineup, just a few Wendigos with zero special effects chasing people. Our escape room NPCs are more dedicated than this!